Should Newspapers support hometown team?

[Oldmins]

Over on GoFrogs they are whining about Gil LeBreton's articles about TCU, saying that the Startlegram never gives TCU good coverage, with their heads buried in the Big 12's rear end. The Aggies and Baylor both get better Startlegram coverage than the Frogs, they say. We hear that a lot about the DMN and the Mustangs. Question: should the hometown newspaper automatically support the hometown team, even though more exes from the BIG BOYS live in the area?

[jtstang]

The answer is that it is not any paper's business to support any team...it's to sell papers and make their shareholders happy. As it happens, coverage of the Big 12 sells a lot more papers in DFW than coverage of SMU, or TCU I guess. Although I don't think of the Star Telegram as a real paper in a real town....

[George S. Patton]

This is from another thread. But it's appropriate and this comment is more of an indictment of how the program has been covered as opposed to the cheer leader perspective -- which should never exist anyway.

Bobbi Roquemore has been an absolute dud of a beat writer. And I'm not talking about the amount of coverage we should be receiving during a 1-10 season. That has nothing to do with it.

The development of the beat has been very poor. I would have loved to have read about Jones dealing with this first-year flop. I would have loved to hear from Orsini and Co. about the first year frustration and season tickets sales and whatnot.

You can still develop a beat and be dedicated to find good stuff out of it. I feel like I've learned nothing about this team from her.

Instead, we got half-a$$ notes off a press release and the occasional lazy-a$$ feature.

Good thing I stopped buying the DMN about 6 years ago. Congratulations to Jim Maroney for running that thing into the ground.

Heck, it's gotten to the point where I don't even check out the DMN anymore

[Come and Take It]

You answered your own question. Selling papers is the name of the game. Given that UT, TAMU, OU, and OSU graduate more people in a year than SMU has in attendance, it's pretty much a no brainer.

Doesn't mean I have to like it.

Without naming any specific names, certain writers (some gone, some still there) made me quit reading the DMN all together.

Besides, the high school beat ranks higher than SMU over there any way.

[ponyplayer]

DMN supported the women`s golf team yesterday...paragraph at most but efficient..............uh-oh

[Stallion]

there are high school teams in DFW that outdraw SMU

[Hoofprint]

Their job is not to "support" us or any other team. Their job is not to report news, either.

Their job is to sell newspapers, and nothing more.

As for Bobbi Roquemore, be glad she survived the layoffs. We're going to see a major shift in coverage - with the Belo layoffs, more and more events will be covered via press releases and AP stories, rather than in person. She started as the SMU beat writer, then picked up the Frog High beat, then started helping out with Longhorn High and Aggie High.

As for the DMN's coverage ... anyone notice that before the Memphis game, the Dallas Morning News site was ripped down off the scoreboard in Ford Stadium and replaced with an SMUMustangs.com sign? Looks to me like we'll see less and less in the DMN, and if Bobbi (or any other reporter) is stretched across four schools, she'll be hard-pressed to get too in-depth on many issues.

[PK]

If we want to be in the news, then we have to do something news worthy. Winning a game would be a good start.

[LA_Mustang]

Currently, the DMN gives SMU more coverage than we deserve

[couch 'em]

I'm pleased with the DMN coverage of SMU this season.

[J.T.supporta]

its always a bias no matter who runs the paper

[Pony_Fan]

this is so tired. wow!!!!!!!!! These threads are so stupid.

SMU and TCU deserve no more than they do. They are not BCS conferences and don't sell papers.

NEXT!!!!!!